Its hatching
Athens Olympic Games, August 15, 2004: Laure Manaudou, 17 years old, is still a complete unknown to the general public, at the time when she sets off for the 400m freestyle. 4 minutes, 5 seconds and 34 hundredths later, she offered France its first Olympic swimming title in fifty-two years and the victory of Jean Boiteux. A first, quite simply, for a French swimmer. “ This race changed my life, says the winner. The goal was: “You go and kill the race” so that the others would say to themselves that in diving, I had already won… It was twenty years ago, and I tell myself that it’s passed very quickly. I wish I could relive it. »
His relationship with Philippe Lucas
The coach’s look, cheekiness and intransigence also contributed greatly to Manaudou mania. Just like their exchanges, sometimes tense. “ Me, with another trainer, it probably wouldn’t have worked, admits the champion. I had the impression that in training, he was the guy who yelled at you. And then presto! You take your foot out of the pool and it’s: “What do you want my darling?” That’s what made it work well. If he had been too lax in training, I wouldn’t have come. »
His dangerous connections
The episode of her romance with the Italian swimmer Luca Marin, who, at the end of 2007, will abandon her for her great rival, Federica Pellegrinileaves him with a bitter taste: “ Today I can’t stand hearing Italian spoken. Still, it’s a pretty language, but I have memories (painful, editor’s note)… » As are those of very intimate photos, posted on the web by a jilted ex-boyfriend. “ It was like rape. Everyone had seen these photos. It was a bit like the beginning of social networks. I received 15,000 times a day: “You’re a s…, you’re a p…” It still happens a little today! »
-Her life as a mother
At 38, Laure Manaudou now lives away from the tumult and media pressure that accompanied her throughout her career. “ I have always been a country person. I don’t like big cities, there’s too much movement, it oppresses me. I like being alone, being quiet. I needed this flat encephalogram, fullness and calm, to raise my children in a normal life », confesses the one who became a mother for the first time, at 23 years old. She then gave birth to a little girl named Manon. “ For me, it has always been in my life choices… feeling the love of a child, which is very natural, without expectations. » A love multiplied by three. Indeed, since then, Laure has given birth to two boys, Lou and Sacha.
Laura! Laura! Laure!, Tuesday January 20 at 9:10 p.m. on Canal+
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